1917
Click to go to the extensive links on this casahistoria page
for the events that brought Lenin & the Bolsheviks to power.

The web has numerous sites to Lenin and Trotsky, however most are
either over sycophantic or of limited academic interest. Those
offered below are of greater value. What is missing are sites with
critical analysis.

Vladimir Lenin Interesting modern Russian bio from the
Russian international TV news channel RT Russia, of the founder
and the guiding spirit of the Soviet Republics - a communist
philosopher, ardent disciple of Karl Marx, leader of the
Bolshevik Party and the mastermind of the 1917 October
Revolution.

A chronology of Lenin Neat and useful from the Lenin
Internet Archive but the red background makes use difficult!

Early Life: Lenin Web. § Many
articles of its own on specific periods of Lenin's life before
1917 especially. These links are courtesy of the archived
Wayback Machine as the original site is now defunct. Essays
have a left wing bias and authors not provided with provenance,
but useful for basic events:

Lenin Social Nerve: Unfortunately this is no longer
maintained. The link here is to the excellent
Wayback Machine copy. Unfortunately this is missing many
images and aspects from the site. it is still worth using.
§ As I wrote originally: The site
modestly claims: "contains the most information offered on-line
about the life and work of Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov. The site
includes over 500 photographs of Lenin, the Russian Revolutions
of 1905 and 1917. The site includes photographs and
biographies of the prominent revolutionaries of the time, like
Leon Trotsky. The Biographical section on Lenin contains
information gathered to suite the intellectual mind on the
controversies and legends of Lenin." The site is very
good though... The pick of the general Lenin sites. in case it
returns. here is the original site URL:
www.socialnerve.org/lenin/index.html

A Guide to Electoral Behaviour in Revolutionary Russia This
site gives the result of various elections held in Russian
during 1917/19, in several forms of statistical chart (pie, bar
graph etc.). Although the information is certainly specialist,
and there is no explanation as to what each party stands for,
you can draw some interesting conclusions about Bolshevik
support.

Terrorism
and Communism Written at the height of the Russian Civil
War it represents the Bolshevik defence of the extraordinary
means the young workers’ republic had to take in order to defend
itself from the almost two dozen armies that were on its soil
trying to turn back the revolution.

The Russian Civil War This two-page account of the Russian
Civil War concentrates on broad trends rather than specific
events. Examining the strengths and weaknesses of both main
sides, and including information on regional differences and
international involvement, this would be an ideal accompaniment
to a timeline or narrative. Oddly, it neglects to mention the
importance of the railways to the Red Army.

Red
Army Sound initial outline of the origins of the Red Army
from Firstworldwar.com

Anton Denikin Bio from the Russian international TV news
channel RT Russia of one of the most successful leaders of the
White movement. A Russian general, he nearly succeeded in
defeating the Bolshevik forces in 1919 during the Civil War.

Aleksandr Kolchak Bio from the Russian international TV news
channel RT Russia of the Russian naval commander, polar explorer
and a leader of the anti-Bolshevik fight during the Russian
Civil War

White Songs and Poetry The following are several examples
from soldiers' songs and poetry from the Russian Civil War.
While some of the authors are known, the names of many have been
lost or never recorded. This small sample is drawn from research
into the White movement in South Russia, in particular General
Wrangel and his Crimean government, and it is composed of
examples found in the memoir literature of White emigres. But
the purple background is .....too purple..... §

Bloody Battle On Peace Day On November 11, 1918, World War I
officially ended, but for American troops in the Russian town of
Toulgas, the war was just beginning. Vincent Cortright explains
in this, often griping, article. §

Canada's Siberian
Expedition Excellent resource about the Canadian
Expeditionary Force which saw 4,200 soldiers travel from
Canada's West Coast to Vladivostok, Russia, in the wake of the
Bolshevik Revolution. Made up of:

The Story - chapters in English, French and Russian,
highlighting the soldiers' experiences in Russia and the
Victoria Mutiny of December 1918.

Digital Archive - 2,200 photographs and documents from
veterans' families and public collections. can access

Learning Resources for educators and students with
several useful articles on the history and development of
the Canadian intervention.

The New
Economic Policy Detailed article, clearly set out by
Professor R.W. Davies. Univ of Birmingham. New
perspective magazine, 1998. (Green background can be a
distraction....)

Why Did NEP Fail? Useful academic piece argues that
abandonment of NEP was the outcome of a political conflict over
the course of Soviet economic development. By Mark Harrison,
Dept of Economics, Univ of Warwick

The following are complete books. All are by
writers sympathetic at the time to the general need for change,
although it is clear from several that their ideas were changing in
the years following the revolution.

A Great Beginning, Vladimir Lenin June 19, 1919: In this
account Lenin describes the tasks being made throughout the
country to rebuild itself during the wrenching famine and Civil
War. Lenin describes the "Communist Subbotniks" who are
rebuilding the nation in peace, while he also describes the
heroic efforts of the workers in the rear, those workers and
peasants living under the domination of the white armies.

Russia in 1919 by
Arthur Ransome online editions of the books written by
"Swallows and Amazons" author who befriended Lenin, Trotsky and
other revolutionary leaders. This book describes the economic,
social and political situation he saw during his visit to Russia
in February and March of 1919. In this work Ransome interviews
several prominent members of the Soviet government as well as
ordinary citizens of Soviet Russia. While support of the Soviet
society is evident in this critical but encouraging look at this
new government struggling through a civil war, what is not
evident is that Arthur Ransome was a British Secret agent
working with MI6. (But was Ransome also a spy? See here for the
latest archive info:
Still an enigma ...)

How the Soviets Work, H. N. Brailsford 1920,1927: A critical
description of the positives and negatives of the grass-roots
councils empowered by the revolution. Much of this material is
drawn from 1920 and qualified by his visit in 1927.

My Disillusionment in Russia, Emma Goldman 1921-22: American
anarchist Emma Goldman travels to Russia for the first time in
30 years. She provides a revealing picture on the rampant
opportunism throughout the Soviet government and its steady
roots throughout the bureaucracy. Goldman explains life in
Soviet Russia from the viewpoint of Russian anarchists who
wanted to abolish all government right away, and she charts the
undemocratic injustices that occur to them as a result.

Children of Revolution, Anna Louise Strong 1925: Story of
the John Reed Children's Colony on the Volga, which is as well a
story of the whole great structure of Russia

Left
Behind - Baroness Sophie Buxhoeveden's memoirs of life at
Imperial court and her harrowing escape through Siberia during
the Revolution and Russian Civil War. From Alexandra Palace

And
Now My Soul Is Hardened: Abandoned Children in Soviet Russia,
1918-1930 Warfare, epidemics, and famine left millions of
Soviet children homeless during the 1920s. Many became beggars,
prostitutes, and thieves, and were denizens of both secluded
underworld haunts and bustling train stations. Alan Ball's study
of these abandoned children examines their lives and the
strategies the government used to remove them from the streets
lest they threaten plans to mold a new socialist generation. The
"rehabilitation" of these youths and the results years later are
an important lesson in Soviet history.

Lenin's Testament (Read the Post script...) In 1922,
Lenin composed the following letter, which he intended to be
read at the Central Committee. In it, he discusses the
leadership of the Bolshevik Party and finds most of his
potential successors wanting. The letter, which has often been
referred to as "Lenin's testament," intensified a bitter rivalry
between Joseph Stalin (1879-1953) and Leon Trotsky. After
Lenin's death in 1924, a succession struggle dominated the
Bolshevik Party until Stalin emerged as undisputed leader.
From Lenin, Vladimir. "Letter to the Congress." As reproduced in
A Documentary History of Communism, trans. Max Eastman, ed.
Robert Daniels §

Lenin Mausoleum - A virtual tour of the Lenin mausoleum in
Moscow; requires VRML plugin downloadable on the site.

Seventy five after the death of Vladimir Ilyich Lenin, his body,
embalmed in a mausoleum in Moscow's Red Square, is the subject
of political controversy. These 2012 articles give some idea of
the current dilemna over what to do with the mortal remains:

The Legacies of Revolution Richard Pipes presents an
indictment of the Russian Revolution, its violence,
consequences, and the relationship of Leninism to Stalinism. §

The End of the Revolution? Sheila Fitzpatrick, one of the
most prominent historians of the USSR, discusses in this passage
from her history of the revolution the difficulties in studying
1917 and in determining when the Russian Revolution ended. Her
periodization has become the most influential way of viewing the
Russian Revolution as a twenty-year process. §

Censored by His Own Regime 1996 review article by by Orlando
Figes which discusses the view emerging of Lenin with the
opening of the Russian secret archives. Casts useful light on
the character of Lenin

The Russian Revolution This is a very good place to start.
It has many links to sites on the background and events of the
Revolution. A useful collection of annotated links to other
sites relating to the Russian Revolution. It is very suitable
for IB Level

‘Revolutionary Silhouettes’ Written by Anatoly Vasilievich
Lunacharsky in 1923, the ‘Revolutionary Silhouettes’ are a
series of accounts dealing with leading figures of the
revolution, including Lenin and Trotsky. Lunacharsky, who was a
member of the USSR’s first government, knew these people
personally, and each silhouette is a mixture of biography,
reminiscence and examination.

Who
is who? Brief biographies of key figures during the
Revolutionary period

Glossary:
Explanation of the main events, words, places
connected with Russia, 1917-41

History of the Soviet Union This website of translated
documents by the Univ of East Anglia is designed to give
students easy access to a wide selection of sources on Russian
history translated into English and available electronically.§

PLP
translations an enormous number of books/documents
translated by Computer Based Learning Unit, University of Leeds.
This links to the enormous index. Good for browsing for sample
documents - but you need a general idea of what/who you are
looking for as the index is author based, not thematic.§

The Chairman Smiles: Soviet Posters "By 1930, propaganda
focuses on political discipline and the Five Year Plans,
ambitious programs for the collectivization of agriculture and
establishment of heavy industry. The posters give a powerful,
dynamic impression, using photomontage, compositions with
diagonal lines, and strong contrasts in colours and shapes"